164: Chapter 164 Mandatory Mission

A day later.

Rumors began to spread within the Wuji Army that Qin Ce's squad was holed up in the barracks to avoid missions.

Compounding this was the constant influx of unknown individuals drawn by the God-level Ruins.

The higher-ups in the Wuji Army suddenly issued a large number of new missions.

Some were related to investigating the God-level Ruins.

Others involved clearing out ferocious beasts in related areas.

Furthermore, a new rule was added: every squad must complete one mandatory mission per week.

Under these circumstances, Qin Ce's squad automatically received a mandatory mission.

The mission was simple, one-star.

Go to Yinpinglu and clear out a black iron rank Red-Scaled Earth Lizard beast horde. The highest boss leader would not exceed bronze low-grade.

On paper, the difficulty wasn't high.

But the nature of a mandatory mission was different. It must be accepted, must be done, must be completed.

And it was mandatory to start within three days and complete within one week.

Failure to complete would result in the immediate disbandment of the squad, with personnel reassigned to other squads.

Qin Ce was on the training ground watching the new recruits practice when he received the mission order.

Jiang Mo handed him the document. He looked down at it, glanced at it again, his face expressionless.

He folded the document, stuffed it into his pocket, and continued watching the new recruits train, as if nothing had happened.

But Jiang Mo noticed his brow furrowed slightly.

It wasn't because of the mission itself, but because the timing was bad.

Just as the unrest began, this unit, which was finally showing some promise, wasn't suitable to be hastily sent into the field.

Originally, Qin Ce had wanted to train for another week.

To be honest, he had no particular obsession with completing missions for military merits. He just needed to wait out the three months peacefully and smoothly enter the ruins.

Unfortunately, trouble sought him out even if he didn't look for it.

However, exactly one week had passed since Tianlu's last Heavenly Fortune Transforming Wealth.

Qin Ce decided to return to his barracks first to try his luck, to see if he could draw something else related to the ruins.

Returning to the barracks, Tianlu was dozing on the bed.

He picked it up and placed it on the table.

Tianlu, disturbed from its nap, grumbled discontentedly, but upon seeing it was Qin Ce, it obediently settled down, tilting its head to look at him.

Qin Ce reached out and placed his hand on the bell on its chest.

His internal energy shifted. Tianlu's energy surged forth, pouring into the bell.

The silver-gray spatial window appeared again, silent, circular, leading to the unknown.

Qin Ce reached his hand inside, feeling around. What he touched was a warm, sticky mass, like soft clay warmed by body heat.

It wasn't a crystal, not metal, not anything he had anticipated.

Instead, it was a fist-sized, dark red, semi-transparent object with intricate golden patterns flowing inside.

Holding it felt like grasping a lump of congealed blood, but it was warm to the touch, emitting a faint, indescribable sweet-metallic scent.

Qin Ce used his Nine-Star Insight to appraise it.

[Earth-Pulp Blood Marrow]!

Molten flame category, Gold Rank natural treasure!

Qin Ce looked at the Earth-Pulp Blood Marrow.

This item had nothing to do with the God-level Ruins.

But it was something he needed right now.

Currently, only one person in the entire team hadn't recovered yet.

That was the unregistered individual, the owner of the Ice-armored Rhinoceros—Sun Lie.

Sun Lie's Ice-armored Rhinoceros had been fundamentally injured by a molten lava-type skill. Qin Ce had previously given him two options: first, purge the residual lava poison and restore its original ice attribute; second, use force against force, stimulate the Ice-armored Rhinoceros's potential with lava-type energy, guiding it to mutate.

The second option was more aggressive with greater potential rewards, but it lacked a key material—a natural treasure possessing both ice and fire attributes to balance the conflict.

The Earth-Pulp Blood Marrow perfectly met this requirement.

Qin Ce took the Earth-Pulp Blood Marrow and went to Sun Lie's room.

Sun Lie was feeding his Ice-armored Rhinoceros. The beast lay on the ground, skin and bones, its scales dull, eyes half-open and half-closed like a lamp about to go out.

Sun Lie crouched beside it, handing pieces of chopped meat one by one to its mouth.

The Ice-armored Rhinoceros chewed very slowly, pausing for a long time after each bite.

Qin Ce handed over the Earth-Pulp Blood Marrow.

Sun Lie took it, glanced at it, and his pupils contracted sharply.

His hands began to tremble, his voice shaking too: "This is... Earth-Pulp Blood Marrow?"

"For your Ice-armored Rhinoceros. After using it, it will enter a mutation state. Ice-Armored Blazing Rhino. Dual ice-fire attributes, defense doubled compared to before, attack significantly higher." Qin Ce's voice was flat, as if stating something very ordinary.

Sun Lie held the Earth-Pulp Blood Marrow, his hands trembling more and more violently.

"Will this really work? No one can ever predict the mutation and evolution of a Pet Beast."

"If it works, will you pledge your life to me?" Qin Ce joked, trying to ease Sun Lie's tension.

But Sun Lie, without a second word, suddenly made up his mind and nodded.

"Deal!"

With that, he took the dark red crystal and pressed it against the Ice-armored Rhinoceros's forehead.

The Ice-armored Rhinoceros opened its eyes. In those turbid, dim eyes, like lamps about to be extinguished, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared.

Qin Ce turned and left.

He didn't stay to watch the mutation process. It wasn't necessary.

His Nine-Star Insight had already told him the outcome. There would be no surprises.

Returning to his room, Qin Ce sat on the edge of his bed and reviewed the mandatory mission again.

Yinpinglu. Red-Scaled Earth Lizards. black iron rank, leader bronze low-grade.

A one-star mission, not particularly difficult.

But he wasn't thinking about the mission itself.

He was thinking about the thirteen light pillars, the thirteen keys, and the door that hadn't yet opened.

Tianlu's Heavenly Fortune Transforming Wealth drew a crystal key the first time, but only the Earth-Pulp Blood Marrow the second time.

Was this random, or was there a pattern?

He speculated: Did Heavenly Fortune Transforming Wealth have a range limit? Within a certain area, were the good items fixed?

If he went to other areas, like the locations of other light pillars, could he also draw other keys?

This thought surfaced in his mind.

And right now, the Yinpinglu of that mandatory mission...

was located around one of those light pillars.

So, should he go out and try his luck?

Early the next morning, Qin Ce assembled the entire squad.

All twenty-four members were present.

They stood at the barracks entrance, wearing faded military uniforms, carrying bulging field packs, wearing standard-issue combat boots.

Their Pet Beasts crouched beside them, some yawning, some licking their paws, some sniffing each other.

The Pet Beasts of the thirteen new recruits had just passed their infancy. They weren't large, their aura wasn't strong, but they were full of spirit, eyes bright, filled with a naive curiosity about the upcoming mission.

Sun Lie stood in the ranks, his Ice-armored Rhinoceros lying at his feet.

Overnight, the beast's scales had changed from grayish-white to dark red, with faint golden patterns flowing across them.

Its body had grown a size larger, its breathing deeper, its gaze sharper.

Ice-Armored Blazing Rhino, dual ice-fire attributes, Bronze Rank peak, just a step away from Silver.

Sun Lie stood beside it, his back ramrod straight, a completely different person from the unregistered individual crouching on the edge of the crowd days ago with empty eyes.

Qin Ce walked out of the barracks and stood before the squad. He glanced at Sun Lie.

He said calmly, "Move out."

The twenty-four men turned simultaneously and marched out of the barracks.

No one spoke. Only the sound of combat boots on the sandy ground, uniform, dull, like the beating of a drum.

Naturally, Qin Ce's movements attracted attention from other units.

On the training ground, the morning drills of other squads hadn't started yet.

Some stood at their barracks doors brushing their teeth, some squatted on the ground eating breakfast from bowls, some groomed their Pet Beasts.

Seeing the Seventh Squad march past, they stopped what they were doing and watched.

"Well, the turtle squad is finally moving."

"The young master is starting to work hard."

"Yinpinglu, one-star mission. Shouldn't be too hard."

"Not hard? For them, everything is hard."

"Let's start a betting pool. I wager ten military merits, at most five of them come back."

"I bet three come back. Can't be more."

"I bet total wipeout. Can those young master soldiers really survive?"

The man laughed, the sound carrying far in the morning air.

Some actually did start a betting pool, writing odds on paper and posting them at the canteen entrance.

Passersby glanced, laughed, and casually bet a few military merit points.

No one bet that the Seventh Squad would return with all members. Not a single person.

Second floor, by the window.

Commander Chu Mingjue stood there, a cup of tea in his hand.

He watched the long line of men cross the training ground, watched the young man walking at the front, watched the purple-gold lion-like Pet Beast hopping along at his heels.

His expression was indifferent, as if watching a painting unrelated to him. But the corner of his mouth slowly curved into a slight arc.

"A Bronze Rank Beast Tamer, eliminated a Gold Rank Raven King," he murmured.

"Just a trick. Let's see if he can withstand a real Gold Rank when he encounters one."